QUANTITATIVE TREATMENT OF PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN EMULSION POLYMERIZATION

A quantitative analysis is presented for predicting the particle size distributions obtained in emulsion polymerization. The results obtained are compared with experimental data in terms of the particle‐size‐distribution curves as well as the statistical parameters of the distributions. Comparisons are made for changes in initiator level, surfactant level, water:monomer ratio, and temperature. The manner in which these variables change the distributions and the reasons for these changes are identified. The distribution of radicals among particles of different sizes is seen to be significant. Large particles are expected to contain a greater number of radicals per particle than the smaller ones in the same latex. The effects of such a radical distribution upon the properties of the latex are discussed. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.